Welcome to the 204th edition of Trade War.
Foreign minister Wang Yi shows his pugnacious side, calling America “obsessed with suppressing China,” and questioning its “credibility as a major power.” And breaking a thirty-year tradition, Beijing announces an end to the annual premier’s press conference.
With “high quality development,” and “new productive forces,” Xi Jinping is pushing China to accept a slower growth model. But many Chinese are still hoping for a “new and decisive policy intervention” to jumpstart the economy, argues Gavekal’s Andrew Batson.
A Goldman Sachs exec argues “one should not invest in China,” while JPMorgan Chase calls the country “an irreplaceable growth market,” as asset managers increasingly diverge on the economy. And new bipartisan efforts in Washington to restrict TikTok gather steam.
Luxury brands double down on China market
When China and the US are both feeling pessimistic about themselves, their relationship is more likely to worsen
Leaked report shows hacking businesses engage in “lavish dinners and late night binge drinking”
And check out a new podcast featuring yours truly ~
“Big Sky Country to the Big Smoke”
“Buckle up for a wild ride with Tiff Roberts, former Bloomberg Businessweek China correspondent and current Director of China Affairs at the University of Montana. We trace his journey from Montana to becoming a leading voice on China's economic rise,” says entrepreneur and innovator Rich Robinson, introducing the latest episode of his podcast “At the Speed of China.”
I had a great time in this eclectic conversation with Rich, touching on everything from what the wild west town of Ruili, Yunnan was like in 1991, rough times in post-Soviet Mongolia, to how a Buddhist Zendo helped lead me to China. Listen to the whole thing here.
Xi doesn’t believe in “releasing control over the economy”
“‘I’m skeptical about whether Beijing would move forward with more bold economic reform or not,’ Dexter Roberts, director of China affairs at the University of Montana’s Mansfield Center, told VOA by phone,” reports the Voice of America.
“While top Chinese officials have talked about the need for economic reform over the last decade, Roberts says China’s top leadership, particularly President Xi Jinping, ‘doesn’t believe in releasing control over the economy,’ which is what China needs to address the persistent economic challenges.”
“Despite economic headwinds, Roberts said he expects China to set the 2024 economic growth target at 5 percent. ‘[Since] the 26 biggest cities [in China] have already set their 2024 economic growth targets slightly higher than 5 percent, it’s a sign that the figure will also be around 5 percent at the national level,’ he said.”
Glad I got that right! (and not just in this pre-Two Sessions’ interview with VOA, but also what I wrote in last week’s Trade War.)
Wang Yi questions US “credibility as major power”
While conceding that China’s relations with the U.S. have improved, foreign minister Wang Yi also showed his pugnacious side, calling America “obsessed with suppressing China,” and questioning U.S. “credibility as a major power,” at a press conference in Beijing, reports The Associated Press.
“If the U.S. always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the U.S. gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word ‘China,’ where is its confidence as a major power?” the 70-year-old diplomatic veteran said speaking to reporters during the Two Sessions, China’s legislative and advisory meetings. “If the U.S. is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.”
Meanwhile, Wang spoke glowingly of China’s growing ties with Russia, a relationship that has raised concerns in Washington.
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